AN innovative motorcycle business is hoping to carry out a sustained assault on the French motorsport market after receiving two grants.

Darlington firm Adrenalin Moto, a one-stop shop for motorbike parts and accessories, has received an award to help translate its online catalogue and ordering service into French.

It has also received a marketing grant from Darlington Borough Council to design and build the website, which will also target the market across the Channel.

For three years, Adrenalin Moto has been supplying clients in the UK and has found more than 20 per cent of its business has come from the European, US and Far Eastern markets, including a Harley-Davidson dealership in Metz.

Now the company hopes to build on its foreign business, by widening its horizons by trading in another language.

The company's managing director, Debbie Purdy, said: "We currently receive orders from Germany, Italy, New Zealand, USA, Japan and France, and are committed to developing these markets.

"The new website is enabling us to maintain an unrivalled service for customers and to offer extremely good value for money, particularly because we are now able to communicate in another language."

The assistance with translation has come from the European Regional Development Fund, administered by the North-East Chamber of Commerce and supported by the regional partnership of Business Links and Trade Partners UK.

Brendan Murphy, director of international trade for the chamber, said: "Finding and retaining export markets has been a real challenge in recent years, due to a combination of competitive factors and a general downturn in the global economy. The Regional Exporters Assisted Market Access project has enabled companies to reach and develop new markets which would otherwise have been out of reach, giving them help to meet the cost of travelling, translation, marketing and communication."

For more details visit the websites www.adrenalin.moto.co.uk or www.trojan-horse.co.uk